The October 2025 non-security update for Windows 11 (it is now called "preview update") finally brought the redesigned Start menu to the masses. After four years of complaints, Microsoft has redesigned the Start menu for a single-page view, added the ability to remove the recommended section properly, and improved the use of space with additional views. The new Start menu is rolling out gradually, and you can enable it on your system, but before you go, beware of some odd bugs.
Right after turning the new Start menu on, I noticed two very bizarre issues. First, when you install new apps, their folders with shortcuts do not appear in the list of apps right away. For example, I installed VMware Workstation on a clean Windows copy and could not find it in the list of all apps, even though the installer should have placed a VMware folder in the list with VMware Workstation Pro and VMware Player shortcuts. Windows Search did not return anything, but that is hardly surprising, given how terrible it still is.
Interestingly, the folder and its shortcuts are actually there—I managed to find them in File Explorer by simply right-clicking any existing app and selecting "Open file location." They just failed to show up in the list of all apps. Only a system or File Explorer restart forced the Start menu to display all installed apps and their folders properly. During my testing, I noticed that this bug only affects apps that create folders in the Start Menu > Programs directory.
The second bug is also odd and annoying. The first time you open the Start menu after a system or File Explorer restart, left-clicking or right-clicking on any application results in the Start menu scrolling to the top of the list. You want to open the Photos app? Too bad, let"s scroll to the top and open something completely different.
Luckily, this bug only happens once. After the first misclick and the initial dose of user rage, the Start menu would stop unsolicited scrolling and behave as it should.
I do not know how widespread these bugs are, but I managed to replicate them on my main computer, my laptop, and a virtual machine. This begs the question: how could Microsoft miss bugs like these, given that the new Start menu has spent quite a few months in development? I should also mention that Microsoft actually fixed the scrolling issue in the Insider build 26220.6780 from early October, with a similar bug supposedly fixed in another preview update from September. Hello, how about some fixes for users in the "stable release?"
All these questions are, of course, rhetorical, because Windows 11 quality assurance these days leaves a lot to be desired. Besides the new Start menu bug, we have an issue where Windows cannot properly terminate the Task Manager process, which results in a pileup of duplicate processes eating your memory and CPU power. With Microsoft"s relentless attempts to inject AI into Windows and increase its product KPI with the never-ending influx of ads, bugs like these only further infuriate and disappoint users. Microsoft, it is time to get your stuff together!
Have you experienced these bugs with the new Start menu? Share your experience in the comments.